“Some people might not want to see your underwear”
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In
many ways, Barack Obama is the first U.S. president who has genuinely
connected with the hip-hop community. His historic run to the White
House has inspired emcees from across the nation to wear Obama
paraphernalia and create songs that memorialize his efforts. But while
the 44th President has admitted to having Kanye West and Jay-Z on his
ipod, he has spoken out against certain trends that are perpetuated in
hip-hop.
During a recent question and answer session with Facebook members,
Obama shunned the wearing of pants that sag well below the waist.
“Brothers should pull up their pants,” Obama said frankly.
“You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, [and] your
underwear is showing. You know, some people might not want to see your
underwear — I’m one of them.”
In recent years, several cities have proposed and passed laws that ban
sagging pants in public. Although Obama may find the trend
unacceptable, he disagrees with public officials who have made it a
legal issue. “Here is my attitude: I think people passing a law
against people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time,” Obama
affirmed. “We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our
schools, health care, dealing with the war in Iraq , and anybody, any
public official, that is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to
spend some time focusing on real problems out there. There are some
issues that we face, that you don’t have to pass a law for.”
If Obama has the power to motivate millions of youth voters and rappers
who usually deride politicians, he could likely influence Lil Wayne,
Nelly, and Plies to buy into the concept that sagging is dead.- amir shaw
